Dragon Skin, Dragon Scales
by Nemesis dan Impyrean
Summary: Toothless and Hiccup go exploring in a dragon-infested cave. Does it matter it's dangerous? Of course not! It's almost worth it when they discover a new dragon! Almost... unfortunately, this new dragon's venom turns humans into dragons, and dragons into humans. The only thing that stays the same is their eyes. Anyone notice both Toothless and Hiccup have green eyes?
1. We Were Late, Weren't We?

"Hiccup's still not here?" Astrid sighed. "Why's he so late today?"

"Maybe he found something better to do," Snotlout suggested. "I know I do."

Fishlegs scoffed. "Like what?"

"Like get beauty sleep, of course," Snotlout responded. "You think _this_ just happens?" He gestured to himself.

Astrid and Fishlegs looked at him before turning to each other.

"Maybe he's in that cave we told him had dragons," Tuffnut said.

"You didn't think to mention this earlier?" Astrid asked.

Tuffnut shrugged. Ruffnut said, "Yeah. He asked us about it yesterday." Tuffnut grinned, nodding. "We had so much fun! Look at this - I got mauled."

Ruffnut pouted. "Why didn't I get a scar?"

Astrid ignored them, saying, "Alright, let's go get Hiccup. Knowing him, he'd take hours in a cave filled with dragons without realizing it."

* * *

"Hiccup! Hiccup!" Astrid sighed in frustration. "Where is he?!"

A figure moved just out of the light, slowly coming where Astrid could see. It was Hiccup, who wasn't wearing his fur jacket. He smiled. "Hey, what's… oh. I missed the meeting, didn't I?"

Astrid punched him. "You did. And now we have to go find the twins and Snotlout, because we split up to look for you. You know these caves are like a maze?"

Hiccup laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that. I'll go this way, you go that way?"

She was about to agree when she frowned. Hiccup was moving oddly… and… "Where's Toothless?" Astrid asked suspiciously.

He jumped, beginning to ramble, "Wha - oh, Toothless? He - he's, uh, at… at home. I left him behind, I… uh… didn't want him to get hurt."

"Toothless? Get hurt?" Astrid said doubtfully. She raised her eyebrows, coming closer. "What are you hiding?" she demanded, turning him around. She gasped as she saw rips in his shirt.

Astrid asked worriedly, "What happened?"

Hiccup raised his hands, laughingly telling her, "Nothing! I just ran into some dragons - but they didn't get me, see?"

On closer inspection, Astrid realized the skin below was unmarked. "Oh," she said, at a loss for what else to say. Then she remembered. "That still doesn't explain very well where Toothless is."

Hiccup's smile became strained. "He's fine, alright? Now let's go find the others."

Reluctantly Astrid went down one tunnel. Hiccup hung back slightly, letting out a breath in relief when she didn't notice his lack of a torch. As the light vanished, his green eyes gleamed slightly in the gloomy cave.

"Hiccup," the green-eyed boy said, shaking his head, "We are in so much trouble."

A black dragon with green eyes emerged from behind a rock, whimpering slightly. He took a step, swaying as he did so.

The boy supported the dragon as best as he could, saying, "I told you! Use your tail to balance yourself, and keep your wings tucked in!"

Gradually, the dragon's motor skills improved. The boy sighed. "Hiccup, what are we supposed to do?" he asked the dragon. It did an approximation of a shrug. Toothless groaned, slapping his hand against his face.

"Ow!" he exclaimed. "Why do you do this to yourself?"

Hiccup stared back at him, then gave another shrug before growling in frustration.

Toothless shook his head. "Why does this always happen around you, Hiccup?"

Hiccup stared at him.

"And, me too, I guess," Toothless admitted. He gave a soft growl of his own, scratching his head. "Why did you have to go after that dragon?" he griped. "How did this even happen?"

Hiccup gave a few short growls and huffs, but sadly, Toothless couldn't understand them. So Hiccup settled for crooning as he nuzzled against Toothless.

"Let's go face the others," Toothless sighed.

* * *

"Yeah, I'm not feeling so well… And Toothless is feeling pretty under the weather too, so…" Toothless-posing-as-Hiccup said.

Surprisingly, their friends bought it. Everyone went home with no one the wiser.

"So now what do we do?" Toothless asked. Hiccup, who was lying on the dragon bed, gave a soft growl. He got up reluctantly, doing his best to keep his wings tucked in as he nosed through his supplies.

Grasping a stick with a blackened end, he slowly scrawled something on the paper.

"I… can't read that," Toothless said, craning his head to make sense of the markings.

Rolling his eyes, Hiccup tried again.

"Dreyun… vemon… cero? Dragon venom cure?" Toothless tried. Hiccup nodded.

Toothless hesitated.

"...Does that mean," he asked, his voice already resigned, "that we have to get the venom of the dragon that did this for a cure?"

Hiccup sat back on his haunches, looking pleased.


	2. We Were Late For A Reason!

"Tuffnut!" Hiccup called out, seeing the twins. "Ruffnut! What are you guys doing?"

The two looked at each other. "What does it look like we're doing?" Tuffnut retorted.

Hiccup sighed, Toothless making a bemused face beside him.

"Like you're… I don't know."

The twins were crouched behind some rocks, staring at what seemed like a cave. Hiccup just hoped it wasn't a hole they and their dragon had blasted into the cliff.

"We're hiding!" Ruffnut said in a isn't-it-obvious tone.

"Hiding," Hiccup repeated. "From what?"

The twins looked at each other. "The dragon!" they said loudly.

Personally, Hiccup thought they were doing a terrible job of hiding if they were going to yell like that. "What dragon?"

Tuffnut said, "The weird one!"

"Thanks, that clears it up," Hiccup said sarcastically. "Weird, how?"

Ruffnut shrugged. "It had eyes on it's wings."

"Eyes on it's wings," Hiccup said skeptically.

They nodded.

"Alright," Hiccup sighed. "You guys go back to the village, we still have that meeting. I'll go and…" They were running away, no longer paying him any attention. "...find that dragon," Hiccup finished. He looked down at Toothless. "Just me and you, huh, bud?"

Toothless gave out a happy purr as they walked into the dark cave.

* * *

"This place is like a labyrinth!" Hiccup exclaimed. They'd been walking for a while, and if it wasn't for Toothless's ability to navigate in the dark they'd be lost.

His voice echoed back at them. Toothless reared his head back, ears perked at the sound. He growled loudly.

It echoed, sounding like a thousand dragons at once.

Then a growl that definitely wasn't an echo came from in front of them.

"A little light, bud?" Hiccup said nervously.

Toothless spat out some fire that lit up the cavern, revealing the odd-looking dragon before them.

It reminded Hiccup of a moth - it's scales were a light beige, with lighter skin beneath. Leathery wings that were just like a moth's were tucked on it's back, and it had four legs with four claws and a dewclaw on each. It's horns were straight, tipped back with one on either side of it's head. Other than the horns, the dragon's head resembled a Monstrous Nightmare's - at least in structure.

The dragon reared back, spreading it's wings. To Hiccup's surprise, they had markings shaped like eyes. Numerous eyes on each, it's counterpart on the other wing creating a pair.

"Eyes on the wings," Hiccup commented.

Toothless growled, causing his rider to place a reassuring hand on the Night Fury's nose.

"It's alright," Hiccup said, keeping his eyes on the dragon. He reached out his other hand, turning away and closing his eyes.

To his surprise, the dragon bit him. The dragon's teeth were miniscule, millions needed to line it's whole mouth. But they were sharp, and drew blood - very little blood, but it still hurt.

Toothless growled.

Hiccup, blinking hard, thought he heard Toothless say, "Don't bite him!"

The Night Fury launched himself in front of Hiccup, defending his rider. They exchanged a few bites and blows before the dragon backed off, fleeing into the dark labyrinth of caves.

Toothless turned back to Hiccup.

Everything hurt. Hiccup really, really hoped the dragon wasn't venomous, but his chances seemed slim. "Thanks, bud," he muttered deliriously.

To his surprise, Toothless backed away, his eyes turning into slits. The dragon growled - the sound echoed in Hiccup's mind, seeming to form words - "What did you say?"

Hiccup jerked, the pain growing. He was going to die.

He heard Toothless roar in agony.

Hiccup remembered the bleeding bite marks.

He hoped Toothless wasn't going to die too.

* * *

"Hiccup. Hiccup."

He stirred. Who was talking? The sound was unfamiliar… no, wait, he knew that voice.

"Hiccup, wake up!"

It was his voice.

Hiccup's eyes flew open. He took in the sight of himself standing before him. Though, for some reason, his duplicate seemed smaller somehow.

He tried to stand, and fell. He struggled, pushing himself up on four legs. He looked at himself, then at… himself.

"Toothless?" Hiccup said. His voice felt odd, rough.

Toothless-turned-human shook his head. "I can't understand you," the former dragon said.

Hiccup growled in frustration. The oddness of how instinctive the action had been was overshadowed by Hiccup's guilt. He'd really screwed up.

He couldn't even walk.

Then Hiccup realized something. "Why are you wearing my clothes?"

Toothless sighed.

"Because you won't fit in them, and in this body, I need them."

Hiccup refused to think about that. He saw that Toothless had ripped the shirt a little, obviously having struggled with it. The former dragon hadn't even bothered with the jacket.

"So what're we going to do?" Toothless asked.

Hiccup shrugged.

"I can barely see," Toothless added, sounding irritated. "I bet you don't know how to, do you?"

Hiccup gave another shrug.

At that moment, they both heard, "Hiccup! Hiccup!"

"Astrid," they said at the same time, though Hiccup's was only a growl.

Toothless looked truly worried.


	3. Hang On, We're Flying?

"Hiccup! Good morning!"

The boy froze on the stairs, the Night Fury crouched behind him. "Uh, hey, Chi - Dad! What are you doing up so early?"

"Oh, just exhausted. I was helping the fishermen bring in their haul the other day. Can't say it was fun," Stoick said, oblivious to his 'son's' discomfort. "And what are you doing?"

Toothless smiled. "Oh, just bringing Hic - Toothless out for a morning flight. Then maybe get the gang together. Is that all? Right, uh, bye!"

Boy and dragon rushed out the door.

"Hm," Stoick said, scratching his head. "He is in rush this morning."

Shrugging, he went back to eating.

* * *

"Your dad never wakes up this early!" Toothless hissed indignantly. "Why today?"

Hiccup shrugged. That was all he could do, really. He watched in amusement as Toothless tripped, falling flat on his face.

The boy was still for a moment before he said, his voice muffled, "I hate your metal leg. Why, if I have a human body, do I not have two legs?"

Hiccup nudged Toothless, sweeping his crippled tail before him.

"I guess that makes sense," Toothless admitted. "Both of us are crippled, huh?... Wait…"

Hiccup shook himself, grinning.

"No, I don't want to learn how to ride you."

Hiccup's smile faded. He spread his wings and looked at Toothless beseechingly.

Toothless sighed. "I'd rather not have to learn how to ride you. Besides, that would end badly. You would probably break both our necks."

Hiccup shrugged.

Their conversation was interrupted by Fishlegs. The stout Viking waved as he came, breathing heavily as he did so.

Hiccup nudged Toothless pointedly.

"Uh, hey, Fishlegs!" Toothless stammered. "What's wrong?"

Fishlegs was on his knees, panting. "Th-th-there's a-a-a…"

"Slow down," Toothless said. "Talk to me."

Hiccup had to admit, Toothless was doing a good job of impersonating him.

Instead of trying to speak further, Fishlegs held up a piece of parchment.

Toothless grabbed it and read it, Hiccup nosing over his arm to read it as well.

"The chief of the Shivering Shores has fallen ill?" Toothless said, confused. Fishlegs nodded, still out of breath. "Yeah," he said. "Stoick has to go pay his respects."

"And this is important why?" Toothless asked. Hiccup was just as clueless.

"Because!" Fishlegs burst out. "We have to go with him! All the dragon riders have to fly with Stoick, and Meatlug is sick, she can't make it. Can you tell your dad we can't go?"

Toothless nodded.

As the boy left Toothless's face was very slowly turning an interesting shade of white.

Hiccup spread his wings, cooing.

"Oh Thor," Toothless said, his voice strangled.

* * *

"How am I supposed to get this on you?!" Toothless said, frustrated as he struggled with the saddle Hiccup had made. Hiccup held still, but couldn't really help.

The former dragon sighed. Eventually Hiccup swung his head, gesturing to the diagrams decorating his wall.

Toothless studied them, then attempted to saddle Hiccup once more. He was still having difficulty, but less so than before.

Hiccup felt the weight settle on him before experimenting, wiggling his tail.

"Hold still," Toothless said, climbing on.

They remained that way for a moment before Toothless said, "This is… weird."

Hiccup agreed, shifting slightly before he spread his wings.

"No flying yet!"

He flicked Toothless on the head - he could do that, with a tail! - before stretching his wings, figuring out which muscles worked where.

It stirred up dust that caused Hiccup sneeze, a new scorch mark on the wall.

"Ah, Hiccup," Toothless complained.

Hiccup huffed with laughter before tilting his head.

Then he leapt out the vast window in their roof.

"No! No no no no no -" The rest of Toothless's words were lost as Hiccup scrambled on the roof, climbing all the way to the top. He sat on the ridge, feeling pleased.

"Hiccup!" Toothless scolded breathlessly. "You could get us killed!"

Hiccup shook, his laughter not lost on Toothless.

"I feed you," Toothless said firmly.

Hiccup stopped.


	4. Thank You For Nothing, Useless Reptile

Hiccup wriggled slightly.

"Yeah, I said it," Toothless said. "So unless you wanna be fed something nasty, I suggest…"

Whatever he was going to say, Hiccup didn't care.

He unfolded his wings once more, launching them into the sky.

Toothless screamed.

Hiccup struggled to rise into the sky, but they were falling.

Toothless kept screaming.

"You useless reptile! You useless, useless… Oh for Thor's sake, how do you do this?!" The boy hastily fit his metal leg into the stirrup, clicking it into place. He shifted it, opening Hiccup's tail.

Flying was nothing new to him.

Riding something that was flying… it was very different.

He swore he could feel Hiccup's side vibrating in laughter as they rose into the sky, perpendicular to the ground. Hiccup's muscle strained beneath his hands, and Toothless had to admit the former Viking was doing a fairly good job at flying.

Hiccup leveled out, hovering lazily on an updraft as they looked down at the village of Berk below.

To Toothless's human eyes, everything was too small to see the details.

However, Hiccup could see everything, from Stoick in front of the Great Hall, to Gobber at his forge, to Astrid… Astrid on Stormfly, coming their way.

Hiccup flapped his wings, going into a dive. Unprepared, Toothless yelped as they started hurtling towards the ground.

He understood, though, when they flew past Astrid. Neither of them wanted to deal with any questions for a long while.

Then Toothless remembered this was Hiccup's first time flying.

The boy leaned forward, shouting to be heard above the wind, "Open you wings! Now!"

Hiccup obeyed, snapping his wings open. They didn't catch until moments before they hit the water, causing a splash as their flight leveled out. Still, they didn't slow.

Astrid was right behind them.

Instead Toothless said instructions such as, "Tilt your wings this way… This way!" and, "Shift your weight a bit to the left!" as they flew among the sea stacks, weaving through them to avoid the persistent blonde.

Occasionally Toothless missed a beat, causing them to collide with the rocks, but he did his best without any help or instruction.

"HICCUP! SLOW DOWN!"

The same thought ran through both their heads - they could not acknowledge her.

If they did, game over.

After all, the girl would be furious if she knew they were intentionally avoiding her.

So they flew faster, aiming to return to the island and hide there. The only cave she didn't know of was the one housing that strange dragon, so that was the one they went for.

* * *

"I think… I think we lost her," Toothless said, out of breath as his adrenaline ran down.

Hiccup, who was breathing raggedly, flopped to the floor.

Toothless sat beside him, sighing.

"And now I can't see," he complained. They'd had to go in deeper for fear of being seen at the entrance.

Hiccup tilted his head, then opened and closed his mouth.

"Try sneezing," Toothless said.

Hiccup shook his head, lying back down.


	5. Let's Keep Up The Charade

Toothless leaned back, green eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling. "I think we should go after that dragon," he said finally.

To his surprise, the warm body he leaned against growled.

"You don't want to?" Toothless asked.

Hiccup wriggled slightly, indicating his disagreement.

"Why?" Toothless asked. "We're not exactly having fun, you know? Come on."

A growl filled the air once more, echoing. Hiccup stood and unfolded his wings.

Feeling along the leathery wings Toothless understood. "Oh. You like flying."

Hiccup nuzzled Toothless, crooning.

"But isn't it tiring for you?" Toothless protested.

He didn't actually mind - once he got over the strangeness of it all, the exhilaration had caught up with him. After all, Toothless had liked flying, but was fine with riding Hiccup. Hiccup, on the other hand… Toothless was worried about how his partner was coping with it.

Hiccup crooned some more.

"Alright," Toothless agreed. "But we should still collect that cure eventually."

Hiccup huffed, then nudged Toothless.

"What?" the boy said, unable to see the dragon.

Hiccup nudged Toothless again, pushing the boy towards his back.

Understanding, Toothless climbed on.

"You don't really know how to see yet, do you?" Toothless asked.

Hiccup flicked the boy with an ear before emitting a sound.

"...I guess you figured it out," Toothless muttered as Hiccup started forward.

* * *

"Hey! Hiccup! Why were you avoiding me yesterday?!"

Toothless blinked as Hiccup nudged him.

"Ah, hi Astrid. Avoiding you? What do you - er…"

The blonde had him backed against a building. "You know very well what I mean! Yesterday? The sea stacks?"

Toothless laughed nervously. "Oh, I didn't know you were there. You didn't say anything on the way to the Shivering Shores or back…"

He and Hiccup had been very conscious of her glares, actually, but tried to ignore them.

"You don't," she said, her voice furious, "ignore me. Alright? What were you doing out there, anyway?"

"Oh, just exercising," Toothless lied.

Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Is that so?"

Her tone made it clear she didn't believe them, but Toothless smiled.

"Sorry I didn't notice you - but I… need to feed Hic - oof!"

Hiccup nudged him sharply.

"I need to feed Toothless, so I'll see you later?" Toothless and Hiccup hurried away.

"He's acting weird," Astrid muttered. She frowned, thinking about it, before shaking her head. "Whatever."

* * *

Hiccup growled at Toothless, telling him he was a terrible liar.

"It's not like you would have done better!" Toothless argued, walking up the stairs. Hiccup jumped up, reaching their room before Toothless.

Toothless collapsed in bed, sighing.

Hiccup started climbing onto his own bed, but Toothless noticed and said, "No way, you need to light it on fire first."

Hiccup tilted his head quizzically, then ignored him, falling asleep.

Toothless watched him for a moment before giving up.

"I'll teach you how tomorrow."


End file.
